Yahoo News Martin Lewis urges energy customers to check fixed rate deal
He warned households “locked in on costly fixes” could see their rates jump after losing government help.
Martin Lewis has urged energy customers to check their fixed rate deal as prices may have rocketed.
The consumer champion has warned households “locked in on costly fixes” could see their rates jump after losing the government's Energy Price Guarantee subsidy on 1 July.
This could lead to their energy bills rising substantially more than Ofgem's new price cap of £2,074.
Lewis urged households to check if their fixed rates had changed, and if they were much higher than the cap, he said they should consider moving to their provider’s price cap.
WARNING: On an energy fix CHECK NOW if your price just rocketed. On Sat, those who locked in on costly fixes - usually c.1yr ago - lost the govt 'Energy Price Guarantee' subsidy. If so you will see rates jump to substantially more than the price cap rates (see end of this tweet)…
— Martin Lewis (@MartinSLewis) July 4, 2023
Lewis, the founder of Money Saving Expert, tweeted: “WARNING: On an energy fix CHECK NOW if your price just rocketed.”
He added: “So check if your fixes rates have changed. If so, and it's materially higher than the cap rates you should consider ditching the fix and moving to your provider's price cap (though factor in any early exit penalties).”
Read more: Energy bills: Why you should check your meter reading this week
The average price for each unit of electricity that someone uses has been slashed to 30p per unit, while gas prices will drop to 8p per unit.
It will save the average household around £426 a year on their energy bills, according to regulator Ofgem – which sets the levels and calculates average usage.
It means that the new average price that Ofgem says a household can be charged will fall from £3,280 to £2,074.
After government support, households paid an average of £2,500 – meaning they would save a little over £400.
Read more: UK households warned energy bills may spike this winter
It is the first time in more than three years, since February 2020, that energy bills for people on their supplier’s standard tariff have fallen.
But those bills are still unusually high by historic standards.
Less than two years ago, typical household bills were just £1,271 a year.
Energy industry consultancy Cornwall Insight said it thinks the price cap on energy bills will fall to £1,978.33 from October from July’s £2,074, but rise again from January to £2,004.40, based on Ofgem’s current measures.
Cornwall Insight has forecast that the regulator will announce price caps of £1,871 a year from October and £1,900 from January.
